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Square Enix shuttering digital manga sites in U.S. and France

Japanese video game and manga publisher Square Enix will shut down its North American and French digital-manga websites on May 23 following a rocky few weeks that saw a projected corporate loss of about $140 million for the fiscal year, the resignation of its president and layoffs in the Los Angeles office.

Crunchyroll reports users who have already purchased manga will be able to continue reading those titles for an unspecified time. A post on the Square Enix Manga website notifies visitors of scheduled maintenance on May 23 but makes no mention of the closing.

Announced at Comic-Con International 2010, the North American store launched that December with volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist, Soul Eater, The Record of a Fallen Vampire and Yumekui Kenbun: Nightmare Inspector.